7 – 13 January 2017

By LSHTM Communications Team · January 13, 2017 · Uncategorized · Comments Off on 7 – 13 January 2017

Will Nutland is interviewed by New Scientist on statistics reflecting a drop in HIV rates across London, which is perhaps the result of the increased use of PrEP: “We need to be very cautious at this stage, but I can’t see what else it can be.” Will’s comments are used by the Evening Standard, IFL Science and Gizmodo UK.Will is also interviewed by CBC Radio (Canada):“We think that what’s been happening over the last year or 18 months is that gay men who are at the hub of sexual risk taking have been accessing PrEP themselves.”

A New Scientist cover story (£) on home cleanliness and targeted hygiene includes expert comment from Sally Bloomfield: “It’s still important to be hygienic in the places and at the times that matter.” Sally speaks to the Daily Mail following the article and also made an appearance on BBC World Service Radio’s CrowdScience, exploring whether we can be ‘too clean’.

Pulse cover research led by the School which found that extending the child flu vaccination programme could protect low-risk elderly people as effectively as continuing to vaccinate the low-risk elderly themselves – Katie Atkins is quoted: “Developing the most cost-effective strategy for vaccination is therefore vital, both for population health and financially stretched health services.”

James Logan appears on Channel 4’s Health Detectives (from 13m10s) to talk about ‘mosquito attractiveness’: “It’s not all about repellents because they also find our odour extremely attractive, that’s how they find us and we can play them at their own game, because we can use that odour to track them.” James also appears on BBC1’s Rip Off Britain (from 07m12s), discussing the risks posed by travelling to Zika-affected countries.

Rebecca Sear speaks to The Atlantic on data that could offer insight into why only humans, alongside just two species of whale, go through the menopause: “There isn’t an overwhelming amount of empirical evidence in humans that older women really suffer higher costs in reproductive conflict with younger women, but that may be because few studies have actually tested for this yet.”

The Vaccine Confidence Project, led by Heidi Larson, is mentioned in a Foreign Policy (£) article on the incoming Trump administration and the effect on the anti-vaccination movement.

NetDoctor quotes Jimmy Whitworth’s advice on travelling to countries affected by Zika: “Zika infection can be dangerous to unborn babies at all stages of pregnancy, although the risk is highest in the early stages of pregnancy.”